Character Centers

Character Centers is an interactive way for the students to learn skills in the guidance curriculum as designated by the Texas Education Agency. Throughout the year the students are taught self-confidence, motivation to achieve, decision making, goal setting, communication skills, interpersonal skills, cross-cultural effectiveness, and responsible behavior. Student learn through these hands- on extension activities based on Stop & Think Decision Program, Kelso's Choices, and Character Counts. The following are pictures from some of the the fall semester Character Centers.

Students learn to respond to facial expressions based on empathy.

 Being a bucket filler helps you spread happiness and fill your own heart too! Younger students sort pictures, while older students write ways to be a bucket filler. 

Understanding and expressing emotions.

 Students write kind words to each other and express gratitude for each other's friendships. Some students also take this time to apologize to any misunderstandings or unkind actions within the classroom.

Learning to make good choices begins with recognizing good choices and bad choices. Students "Stop and Think" about different situations.

Younger students learn Kelso's Choices through a matching game. Playing games also teaches the students to play fair and take turns.

Students build their vocabulary and learn a variety of character traits and how to display each of those character traits.

The key to any friendship or relationship is communication. Students learn how to have "Heart Talk" or use "I Messages" to talk about problems with their friends or classmates. "Talking It Out" is one of Kelso's Good Choices to Decision Making. Practicing how to communicate helps students transfer this into real life opportunities for clear communication.

T.R.R.F.C.C. Awards: Caring

Students at Guadalupe Elementary were honored for the character trait of caring. Pat Kutach, former counselor at Guadalupe Elementary continues to display caring throughout the community after her retirement. She was welcomed back with huge smiles and spoke about how the students can spread kindness in their classrooms and at home. Congratulations students for representing kindness at Guadalupe Elementary!

The following video, One Day, shows how one person can make a ripple effect of kindness and boomerang back to the person that started it.

Aviator Character Education Awards: Caring

Students at William Wood Elementary were recognized for "caring" at the Aviator Character Education Awards. Victoria East Titan Baseball players presented the awards to the students. Thank you to the Victoria East Titan Baseball team for being models of character in our community. Congratulations to all of the award recipients!

The following video, One Day, shows how one person can make a ripple effect of kindness and boomerang back to the person that started it.

Happy #GivingTuesday

Student Council enjoyed making holiday door decorations for Hospice of South Texas. This month our character trait is "caring". Students also participated in #GivingTuesday which is a campaign that encourages us to think about others in the community during the holiday season. With the rush of gift giving and receiving, we often forget to look outside ourselves. Take time this season and enjoy the gift of giving!

Happy Veterans Day

Thank you to all the men and women that have served in the military. Mrs. Young, our music teacher, did a wonderful job preparing the students at Guadalupe and William Wood for their Veterans Day program. Many veterans were guests in the audience and honored for their service to our country. Below are a few pictures of the military men I am grateful for in my life: my father and grandfathers.

Generation TX Month

Generation TX month encourages students to look ahead at the college career. At the elementary level we focus on college exploration. Students learned about colleges and different majors based on their career aspirations: actress, doctor, scientist, etc. We then looked up top ranking colleges for these professions. We also looked up state colleges and local colleges in Victoria The students then made "College-Balls" (instead of poke-balls) with their college colors for our "College Go!! Gotta Set a Goal" bulletin board.

TRRFCC Character Awards: Responsibility

William Wood Aviators held their second ACE Awards (Aviatior Character Education). Kindergarten and first grade students were designated as "wingmen of character", Second and third grade students were recognized as "pilots of character". The fourth and fifth graders are pinned with wings as "aces of character".

Guadalupe Elementary Students were presented TRRFCC Character Awards for displaying outstanding Responsibility. Thomas Gwosdz, Victoria City Attorney, spoke to the students about the responsibilities of an attorney and the responsibilities expected of students in the classroom and at home.

Congratulations to all of our character award recipients!

The Weight of Responsibility

This month we are focusing on responsibility and making good choices. Students watched the following video clip about showing responsibility.

Amazing Kids of Character Responsibility Preview (0:00-2:21)

After the video clip, students participated in a Kagan Structure called "Think Write Round Robin" where the students think about the responsibilities that they have, write a list of their responsibilities, and then take turns sharing their responsibilities with their partner.  

We then discussed how some responsibilities like the classroom "electrician" who turns out the lights has a lighter responsibility than the "bathroom monitor" who ensures that the restroom is clean upon arrival and when they leave. As a class we gave "weight" to each of the responsibilities listed (1 or 2).

The students then played "The Weight of Responsibility" using their list of responsibilities, cards with responsibilities, unifix cubes, and a primer balance. Students chose a *card from the pile and placed the "weight" of the chosen responsibility (1 or 2 unifix cubes) on the balance. The student with the greater weight at the end of the game celebrates by cheering, "I am responsible!!"

Some classes had extra time and we read The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle. It was a great discussion with all grade levels about having to take care of their school and home responsibilities when others are encouraging you to do something else. It can be hard to be responsible when others are having fun or when you are tired. It's also important to be responsible so you can be the best you that you can be.

*Home Responsibility Cards from Confessions of a Homeschooler
*School Responsibility Cards from Mrs. Lirette's Learning Detectives

Unity Day 2016

Students reflected on ways to spread kindness throughout the school and made Unity Day flowers to plant in our "unity garden". Today we are united in kindness against bullying.

The Masks We Wear

Masks can be used for a variety of reasons. As people we don't have the ability to camouflage ourselves like some other animals. However, we often "wear masks" to protect ourselves or blend in to our environment. Everyone has a story and we don't always know what our fellow classmate is going through or dealing with on the inside or in their past. It's best to treat everyone with kindness and respect no matter how they appear on the outside. Third, fourth, and fifth grade students discussed the various types of masks that students wear: everything's perfect mask, it's alright mask, class clown mask, perfect student mask, I don't care mask. I shared my own story about why I became a counselor and how I wore the "everything's perfect mask" throughout most of my school life. I wanted to be a counselor for ALL students, no matter what mask they wore to school. The students listened to "We" by Joy Williams and then made their own masks. Some masks brought tears to my eyes and opened doors to friendships and understanding between us all. 

"We" by Joy Williams 

TRRFCC Character

William Wood Elementary recognized students with outstanding respect at their first Aviator Character Education Ceremony on Friday, September 23rd. Aviator Character Education Academy, or "A.C.E." Character Academy was started this year so students could focus on character development and be recognized for their outstanding character within the school community. Texas 956 JROTC is partnering with William Wood Aviators to present these prestigious awards. Kindergarten and 1st grade students are named "wingmen", 2nd and 3rd grade students are named "pilots", and 4th and 5th grade students are named "aces".

Guadalupe Elementary also recognized students with outstanding respect at their first TRRFCC Character Education Ceremony on Monday, September 26th. Community members are selected to present the awards at each ceremony. Mayor Polasek and Dr. Jaklich were invited to be our presenters for the character pillar "respect" because their character and respect leads our community and schools to success.

Character education is a part of the state guidance curriculum, but William Wood and Guadalupe have incorporated character in all subject areas. Teachers took part in professional development before school started and learned about character education. The schools are focusing on a character trait each month in their regular classroom lessons. Character isn't something that is added to the curriculum, but it is taught with "intention". All staff had the opportunity to nominate students that would be candidates to receive the award.

Guadalupe Elementary and William Wood are using the Character Counts Curriculum and they will focus on six character traits throughout the year. The six traits are trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. The acronym for all the traits is TRRFCC, which is pronounced like "terrific", and helps our students remember to have TRRFCC (terrific) Character.

Congratulations to all of our character award recipients!

Respecting Others: Don't be an Interrupting Chicken

Reading Interrupting Chicken  by David Ezra Stein reinforces our whole group expectations during this time of year. Students often blurt out answers in class and are reminded to not be an "interrupting chicken" so they can be good listeners. Good listeners show respect to others by not interrupting. After we read the story, the students write their own story. The authors of these creative stories narrate the stories as fellow classmates act out their original story starring Interrupting Chicken. The students are proud of their work and take pride in seeing their writing come to life in a classroom drama. 

  

Building Community using Kagan Structures

Students used the Kagan Structure "Fan N Pick" to learn how to actively listen and respect each other. Each group was given a set of questions about school and students rotated through group roles as they answered different questions. In order to be successful the students had to interact with each other with respect and respond to the question and answer. Through cooperative learning, the students are able to gain social skills and value their classmates in their group. 

Welcome Work: Making It Personal

As students enter their counseling time during block each week, it is my goal as a counselor to make connections and build relationships with each and every student. One way is through our Welcome Work. Every Welcome Work folder has a letter from me which includes a  positive quote or statement. 

The students then open their folders and begin writing/drawing their "Sunshine and Rain Cloud". A "Sunshine" is something that the student is looking forward to or something that happened to them that made them happy or excited. Their "Rain Cloud" is an event that made them upset, sad or angry. Students are encouraged to share their sunshine and rain cloud as we build our classroom community with a foundation of trust and empathy. 

After their students write down their "Sunshine and Rain Cloud", the students complete a "Emotional Check-in". The students learn that all feelings are okay and acceptable. It's our choices and attitude that will guide us through the day. As the counselor, I will find students that might need a little extra TLC for the day and follow-up conversations.

On the back of every folder there is a "Breathing Star". As a group we take five deep breaths using the star. This helps our brain receive the oxygen it needs to learn the lesson we will be learning that day. It's also great practice for anxiety and calming down in stressful situations. As the students practice this technique, they will be able to use this skill on their own and gain control of difficult emotions. 

CHAMPS Classroom Expectations

Welcome back to school! We want all of our students to be successful. Victoria ISD uses CHAMPs from Safe & Civil Schools as a guide to student expectations. Each letter in CHAMPS represents an expectation of the student. Below are pictures my expectations for the activities in my counseling classes on block days. CHAMPs can be modified to fit each teacher's needs based on their schedule and activities.

Mrs. Absher, our instructional coach came up with an adorable chant that I use with all of our students. The kids love it!
C-Conversation "What is my voice level?"
H-Help "How do I get it?"
A-Activity "What are we doing?"
M-Movement "What can my body do?"
P-Participation "What should I be doing?"
S-Success "'Cuz we know that we're the best! Woo!"